


Becoming Real

by LuminousFiore



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Natasha Romanov, Gen, Kid Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, Parent Natasha Romanov, Past Brainwashing, Past Character Death, Protective Natasha Romanov, Slow Burn, Wanda Maximoff & Peter Parker Friendship, Wanda Maximoff Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuminousFiore/pseuds/LuminousFiore
Summary: It’s not that Natasha doesn’t like teenagers, it’s just that she doesn’t feel like she’s the most qualified person to deal with them and yeah she just doesn’t like teenagers._________________________________________________________________________After the events in Sokovia, Natasha is tasked with training Wanda for both combat and real life, but to accomplish that she must first come to terms with her past.
Relationships: Natasha Romanov & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Wanda Maximoff & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 64
Kudos: 167





	1. NATASHA

“No,” Natasha said immediately, leaving no room for argument.

It’s not that Natasha doesn’t like teenagers, it’s just that she doesn’t feel like she’s the most qualified person to deal with them, and yeah she just doesn’t like teenagers.

“But Red,” Natasha was pretty sure Tony had a deathwish, “Out of everyone in this room you are the most experienced in taking care of teenagers,” Tony’s eyes widened as Natasha glared at him, “I mean, you have practically been raising Clint”

“Hey!” Clint exclaimed indignantly, Natasha rolled her eyes, not bothering to acknowledge Tony’s words.

Truth to be told, Natasha knew she would be the one taking Wanda under her care, but she truly enjoyed watching the guys plead for her to do so, none of them keen to suddenly become mentors to a young hormonal teenager, speaking of which…

“Why can’t  **you** do it Stark? You have been taking care of Peter for a while now, I don’t see how taking in Wanda would be any different.”

“Peter is a boy, boys are easy to care for, just give them some junk food, caffeine, a bit of tech and voilà, keeps them entertained for hours, besides, he’s only in my care for a couple of weekends, he spends most of his time at his incredibly sexy aunt’s house.”

“Fair enough,” Natasha said before turning to face the other Avengers, “What’s your excuse?”

“Teenage girls are mean,” piped up Clint.

“I doubt Wanda would be comfortable sharing a living space with a middle-aged man,” replied Bruce.

“Come on Natasha, what will it take for you to accept?” asked Steve tiredly before panic set in at Natasha’s Cheshire cat grin.

* * *

Natasha watched through the two-way mirror at the young girl sitting on the plain twin bed. The room was entirely void of decorations or anything that would indicate that someone was living there, it reminded her of her floor at Stark Tower. 

Wanda was reading a book, one of the few things she was allowed to do, wearing plain white clothes that were too big on her, making her look impossibly young.

“How’s she doing?” Natasha asked Dr. Helen Cho

“Other than the enhancement, she’s physically fine, if a little underweight,” Cho answered matter of factly.

“And her emotional state?”

“Well, it’s only been two weeks since her twin died, she’s still grieving him and appears withdrawn, although she has been cooperative and seems to be doing some progress with her social skills.”

“Social skills?” inquired Natasha.

“She’s not where she should be at her age in that area, it appears that Hydra kept the twins locked away when they weren’t actively using them, giving her no chance to truly develop necessary life skills.”

“What do you recommend I do with her?”

“Feed her, send her to school, maybe teach her to cook or how to file her taxes, schools always skip the important parts of growing up,” Cho paused as she contemplated her answer before adding, “ definitely sex ed, too many young girls are getting pregnant these days.”

“This is going to be an epic shitshow”


	2. WANDA

Wanda read the same sentence for what seemed to be the thousandth time today “There was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning, he was really splendid.”

She had been excited when Dr. Cho brought her books, after days of not doing anything she was glad to have something to focus on and take her mind off the past events. Her excitement dissipated as soon as she noticed the book selection, The Lorax, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Polar Express, Madeline, and Matilda; frankly, she was insulted. Her English was far from perfect, but it wasn’t THAT bad. Cho had given her an apologetic look and mumbled something about not being authorized to give her “mature” books unless her guardian gave her permission to. The thing was, she didn’t have a guardian yet, so for the past week and a half she had been alternating between sleeping, attending her sessions with Cho, and reading the kindergarten-level books. Most if not all of the books were definitely not interesting enough to keep her focused for more than a couple of minutes at a time, she set the book down with a frustrated sigh, her heart longing for the presence of her beloved twin. She was lost in her own head until the beep of her door indicated someone entering, she looked up curiously and was surprised to see the red-headed woman from the battle. She looked completely different without her suit.

“Hi Wanda, my name is Natasha Romanoff, we’ve kind of met before.”

Wanda nodded, not trusting herself to form a coherent response.

“I will be your legal guardian for now, just until we find a better arrangement,” Natasha waited for her to nod again before continuing, “We will be heading to the Stark tower soon so if you need to pack any possessions you may do so, one of the agents will escort you to my vehicle once you’re ready,” she instructed before leaving the room, sounding almost bored with the entire situation.

There wasn’t much Wanda needed to pack, she grabbed the pillowcase and stuffed it with some of the clothes she had been given and, almost as an afterthought, she tossed The Velveteen Rabbit inside too.

* * *

  
  


Natasha’s car was amazing, she had only seen something similar in one of the American movies Pietro showed her once as a child. She didn’t know the make, but Wanda was sure it was outrageously expensive. She quickly got in the car, suddenly self-conscious about her pillowcase-backpack and basic clothes compared to Natasha’s fashionable, and probably expensive, outfit. 

The drive to the tower felt long and endless, the silence felt deafening and Wanda felt so anxious she thought she would throw up and ruin the car’s seats, which made her even more anxious. Natasha didn’t seem bothered by the silence, she looked almost peaceful and Wanda wondered whether she was nervous about anything at all.

“Good afternoon Ms. Romanoff, Ms. Maximoff,” Wanda almost jumped out of her skin at the sound, it seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

“This is Jarvis, he’s Tony’s AI, if you ever need assistance just call him,” Natasha explained, “Come on, I’ll show you the floor you’ll be staying on.

The floor, Natasha’s floor, was beautiful, with a huge window with a view of the city, nice furniture, and a large tv. Wanda noticed it was devoid of personality, there wasn’t even a hint of what kind of person Natasha was, except maybe a sophisticated one by her choice of clothing.

“Your room is right across from mine,” Natasha said as she opened the door to a spacious room with a full-sized bed, a desk, and a nightstand, “Feel free to decorate it however you want, we’ll be buying you clothes tomorrow but for now you can use the ones Jarvis ordered for you,” she continued as she pointed towards a closet with nondescript clothes. “Dinner will be at 7 in the common room, just get into the elevator and Jarvis will take you to the correct floor, we’ll be discussing the rules and anything else that needs discussing.”

Wanda opened her mouth to reply, but no words could come out and she nodded instead, entering the room cautiously. Natasha had left her alone to unpack and settle, although she knew that she probably had some sort of vigilance system in place in case she tried to do anything. She laid on the impossibly soft bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few years and how she was suddenly alone in an ever-changing world.

_“Wanda! Pietro! It’s time for supper!” yelled a beautiful woman at the rebellious children playing in the park._

_“But mom, we’re not done playing yet,” whined the brunette boy, his hair sticking out in all directions and his knees green from playing in the grass._

_“You can keep playing after supper, now tell Wanda to climb down that tree before she breaks an arm”_

_Wanda watched as Pietro ran towards her and her expression turned to horror as she watched bullets rain down and pierce through her mother and brother, their blood staining their summer clothing like paint in a canvas._

Wanda woke up with a start, she hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep. She groggily sat up and looked out the window wall at the dark sky, faintly illuminated by the setting sun. She looked at the alarm clock on her nightstand and panicked when the red numbers indicated it was 7:20. She quickly made her way to the elevator and down into the common room, she could faintly hear the scrapping of silverware against plates.

She walked cautiously towards the sound and was relieved to see only Natasha in the room, she didn’t feel quite ready to officially meet the rest of the Avengers, especially Stark.

“You’re late,” Natasha remarked without looking up from her book, “Steve made us dinner, your plate is on the counter, it might be cold but you can warm it up in the microwave.”

Wanda took the plate, the food wasn’t hot, but it wasn’t incredibly cold either and everything seemed delicious after eating hospital food for two weeks and scarce rations at the Hydra base. She ate quickly and desperately, almost choking twice. Natasha waited patiently until she was done before looking up and stating her rules.

“Firstly, you are not to go outside the tower without supervision, at least for the first couple of weeks, you will be schooled by private tutors for a month, then we’ll check your progress and decide if you are ready to move on to a school. You can only consciously use your abilities in your designated training area, do not be late for training, and you have to respect others, so not using your abilities to get into anyone’s head, understood?”

“Yes”

“Your initial training will last approximately eight months, after which you will be allowed to officially join the Avengers if you pass a final evaluation.”

“Evaluation?”

“Multiple obstacle courses and a simulation, you will be graded and evaluated by the council,” Natasha explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Wanda wanted to ask who exactly was in the council, but she didn’t want to annoy Natasha more than her lateness probably had. 

She excused herself quickly after arriving at ~~their~~ Natasha’s floor, not wanting to intrude in her privacy more than she already had. She briefly wondered whether Pietro would have stayed with her or whether he would have been assigned to one of the guys. He would probably have chosen Hawkeye if only to annoy him

Wanda fell asleep for the second time that night, except there were no nightmares this time, just a feeling of darkness and desolation, she almost preferred the nightmares. 


	3. NATASHA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear things up: Wanda is 13 and Peter is 14, Peter is a sophomore (10th grade) and Wanda will be a Freshman (9th grade). Also, Nat/Bruce is not a thing in this universe, Bruce didn't go MIA, Thor went back to Asgard the same way he did at the end of the movie, and Clint's family exists.

The first month was uneventful, Wanda started her private classes and spent her free time between the gym and her room, they ate in silence most nights and on others, they made small talk mostly along the lines of “the weather is nice today,” or “can you pass me the salt?” Natasha was fine with that, she had never been a talkative person, talking got you killed in her line of work. She didn’t have a problem with the lack of conversation, but Cho apparently did.

“Nat, she needs to practice her communication skills, and she can’t do that if you don’t talk to her,” Cho said exasperatedly.

“But I DO talk to her, we talked today,” Natasha said, crossing her arms petulantly.

“About what? The weather? And how long did that conversation last? Five minutes?”

“She talks to the guys and her tutor too!” Natasha exclaimed in her defense, although she knew that it was futile.

“She needs to go to school Nat,” Cho said, more softly this time, “She needs to interact with more people her age, and you know that.”

“I guess I do,” Natasha conceded.

“She’ll be fine,” Cho reassured her.

“I know.”

* * *

  
Natasha and Steve sat in the common room, looking through all the school flyers Jarvis had printed, a frustrated sigh leaving her lips. None of the schools seemed right.

“What about the Trinity School?” asked Steve.

“I don’t want to send her to a religious school,” Natasha replied without looking up from the flyer.

“Well...what about Horace Mann?”

“It’s too far.”

“It’s only 30 minutes away,” he retorted.

“It could easily take an hour with traffic.” Steve huffed, not agreeing but choosing to let it go, “What about Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters?” he tried again.

“Wanda’s not a mutant.”

“Her powers rival those of the mutant kids, and I’m sure she would not feel as out of place among them than among non-powered kids.”

“No Steve,” Natasha said simply, she understood his reasoning and it was a logical school choice, but it was constantly under attack, and that was not something she wanted to expose Wanda to.

“And why no?” Steve asked, irritated at his suggestions being shot down without any explanation.

“It’s a boarding school, Steve, I haven’t had the best experience with them.”

“Nat-” Steve started but was interrupted by Tony’s arrival.

“Did someone say boarding school? Ugh, those give me the creeps,” he said, shivering for extra effect, “What’s up with all these flyers?”

“They’re for Wanda,” Steve explained, “Dr. Cho thinks it’s time for her to attend a regular school, but Nat can’t make up her mind about them.”

Natasha glared at him, beginning to curse him out, “What about Midtown Science High School?” Tony interjected, “Peter goes there and he seems to enjoy it, they have a lot of extracurriculars and a good academic curriculum,” Natasha considered it for a minute, but she didn’t seem sure, “And it has a nice security system provided by yours truly,” he boasted.

“I...I think I better let Wanda know we’ve found a good school for her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very short chapter, but the next ones are going to make up for it.
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting, stay safe :)


	4. WANDA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize in advance for any grammatical/spelling mistakes, English is not my first language.   
> Also thanks for all the comments and kudos they really made my day :)

Wanda was terrified, the last time she had attended school was roughly three years ago before her parents’ death. After her parents passed, she and Pietro were sent to an orphanage where an old mean lady “educated them.” Then, after being recruited by Hydra, the school was put on the back burner. She had gotten caught up with her tutor, and she found that she quite enjoyed her classes, but learning at home (as she had begun to call the tower in her head), where she could do things at her own pace and ask questions without feeling ashamed, and actually going to school where she would be expected to interact with people were completely different things. 

“Peter will swing by later in the day, he goes to Midtown and he says it’s the best school in New York,” Natasha rambled on, at this point, Wanda wasn’t sure whether she was trying to reassure her or herself.

* * *

When Natasha said Peter would “swing by,” she hadn’t realized she meant that he would literally “swing” into the tower. He had seemed intimidating at first, with his weird costume and confidence...and then he took off the mask to reveal a regular teenager. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was expecting, but he seemed almost too normal to be a hero. 

“Uh hi, I’m Peter,” Peter stammered, extending his hand rather awkwardly.

“Wanda,” Wanda introduced herself, gently shaking his hand.

“Like the Fairly Odd Parents?” 

Wanda shrugged, not knowing whose parents were those.

“Peter,” Natasha greeted him with a half hug and Wanda briefly wondered how it would feel to be hugged by her, “Wanda will be starting school at Midtown this fall, I thought it would be nice if you gave her some advice.”

“Right, uhh don’t piss off the teacher, uh watch out for bullies and don’t hang out with the troublemakers,” he rambled, trying to come up with good advice, “we’ll be on different grades, so we won’t have lunch together, but don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll make a lot of friends.”

That didn’t make Wanda feel good at all, and she started worrying about who would she sit with, what if no one liked her, what if she didn’t make friends, would Natasha think she was a loser? Natasha who made friends so easily and was well-liked by everyone that met her, would she be disappointed? Would she be embarrassed at having someone as broken as Wanda as her temporary protégée?

Peter stayed over for dinner. He talked to Tony and Bruce about science and whatever they were designing in the labs, he talked about history with Steve and even made conversation with Natasha, jokingly referring to her as her “fellow spider person.” Wanda was jealous, not necessarily of Peter, but at how easily he engaged with everyone, and at how everyone seemed to like him. Wanda ate the rest of her meal in silence, not noticing Natasha’s concerned stares.

* * *

“Mr. Wright will be your chauffeur, he’ll take you to and from school every day, he’ll wait for you in the car rider line, if you have trouble finding it just ask one of the administrators,” Natasha explained as she showed Wanda the car she would be riding to school. Wanda wished she could ride the school bus or the subway instead, but Natasha had argued that she was still too young to travel alone even though Peter could and he was only a year older than her. “I’ll start working again soon, but I should be back by dinner time, you are to do your homework and work on the fighting techniques I taught you in the meantime, no slacking off alright?” Wanda nodded, Natasha had started training her in basic hand to hand combat a few days ago, it was her favorite part of the day.

_ “I know you have powers and all, but you must know how to defend yourself, especially in cases where using your powers isn’t practical,” Natasha stated, “We’ll start with basic hand to hand and move on to involve your abilities, ready?” _

_ “Yes,” Wanda replied, getting into what she thought was a decent fighting stance. _

_ “Okay, first let's correct your stance,” Natasha said as she repositioned Wanda, her hands just barely brushing her skin, almost as if she was afraid to touch her for one reason or another. _

_ They spent the afternoon practicing basic techniques, pausing every so often to rest or drink, by the end of the day Wanda was sweating and red from the exertion while Natasha looked as fresh as ever, she longed to be like her one day.  _

_ “You did really well today,” Natasha complimented her at dinner, a slimmer of pride in her tone. _

_ Wanda beamed, not really knowing what to reply, she knew then that she would do whatever it took to earn another praise, and if that seemed needy then so be it. _

Wanda woke up super early, she took a shower and changed into the outfit she had prepared the night before, a plain navy blue shirt, black jeans, and white Adidas sneakers. Natasha had offered to take her shopping the day after she came to the tower, but Wanda didn’t want to feel wasteful for getting new clothes when the ones Jarvis ordered for her were in perfect condition, so she respectfully declined, after all, clothes didn’t matter that much, right? She went down to the common room, only to find Steve making pancakes, her favorites.

“Hey there, did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” she lied, she had spent the entire night tossing and turning, but the nightmares and anxiety kept coming back, if he noticed she lied he didn’t let on.

“Have a seat, these are almost done, Natasha went to the Avengers compound early today, but she left you a note and your backpack on the car.”

She was surprised he hadn’t followed Natasha, she figured he decided to stay behind just to prepare something nice for her first day, and her chest filled with warmth at the thought. 

He followed her all the way to the car too, his warm heavy hand on her shoulders, “Have a good day okay? Stay out of trouble,” he said in a cheerful tone that made her think that maybe school wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

She was wrong. To begin with, Mr. Wright got out of the car and opened the door for her, which in itself was a really nice gesture, but it attracted a lot of attention to her, she could see people pointing and some snickering between themselves. To make matters worse, she got lost on the way to her first class, making her late and earning her a warning from her teacher. She got in trouble again when she didn’t raise her hand before answering a question and again when she went to the restroom without the “restroom pass.” The school was full of stupid rules and punishments for the smallest things. She made it through the first two periods without any major incidents, although the “introduce yourself” activities were pure torture. Lunch was an entirely different ordeal, she got in line at the cafeteria and watched as friends reunited, most of them have been attending school together for years, all around her people laughed and talked about their summer breaks and their new phones/clothes/boyfriends/girlfriends/etc. She took her food tray and walked slowly towards the tables, not knowing where to sit. She saw an empty spot at one, but a girl put her bag in it as soon as she saw Wanda approaching, after various unsuccessful attempts she finally found an empty table. She looked at her lunch, a plain chicken sandwich, vegetables, and a small milk carton, how did someone think those went together was anyone’s guess.

“Is this seat taken?” 

Wanda looked up, she recognized the girl as Jessica, the popular girl from her first two classes, she was with another girl, probably a friend. Wanda shook her head, her hopes that she wouldn’t have to sit alone building up.

“Great,” beamed the girl, grabbing the chair and leaving to sit at another table where more friends awaited. One of them said something and they turned to look at Wanda, laughing and whispering between themselves. Wanda felt cheeks burn with embarrassment and her eyes prickle with unshed tears, she quickly got up to leave, only stopping to grab her bag and began heading to one of the bathrooms, she closed the door of one of the stalls and hoped that no one would come in so she wouldn’t have to explain why she was sitting alone in the bathroom instead of eating lunch. She opened her book bag, deciding to use her time to start on her homework when she noticed Natasha’s note, she had forgotten to read it at the tower.

_“Have a good day :) —Nat”_ was all it said, but it offered her more comfort than it had any right to. She clutched the note to her chest and let the tears fall, she hated school, she hated that she was alone and she hated that Pietro wasn’t there to comfort her. He had been the most social of the two, he would probably have no problem making friends, it occurred to her, not for the first time, that maybe he should have been the one to survive.

Her day did not improve after that, during third period someone made fun of her “basic” clothes and her lack of fashion sense, someone in her 4th period also made fun of her accent when she failed to pronounce “synecdoche,” and she got called a “communist” at least four times. Mr. Wright let her open the car door by herself, but it didn’t help that the car looked straight out of the White House. 

She did her homework after arriving and practiced as Natasha had said, but her spirits were low and she knew that if Natasha had seen her butcher her training the way she had she would surely have an aneurysm. 

“Sooo, how did your first day go?” Natasha asked cheerfully that night during dinner, which consisted of takeout since Steve had gone away on a mission and Natasha was terrible at cooking.

_ Horrible, please don’t make me go back, I don’t want to go back, people are mean and I don’t fit in _ is what she wanted to say, but instead mumbled an “It was good.”

Natasha raised a perfectly styled eyebrow, “You don’t sound okay, did the other kids give you trouble? I know it can be har-”

“I said it was fine, okay?!” Wanda snapped, surprising both herself and Natasha since she had never used that tone before, “Can I be excused now?” she asked, more calmly this time.

“Yeah, go ahead I’ll clean the table.”

* * *

The first week was as horrible as the first day, and she had decided to take matters into her own hands. She waited until Natasha left for work to start her plan to get ready for school. She put on black jeans and sneaked into Natasha’s closet. She looked carefully through all the clothes, slightly frustrated at not being able to find something that would fit her small stature. It’s not like Natasha was incredibly tall, but Wanda was small for her age, she was probably one of the smallest girls in her class. She cheered when she finally found a graphic shirt and a cute red jacket that fit her well enough. She was on her way out when a pair of burgundy combat boots caught her eyes, “Dr. Martens” was printed on the inside. She tried them on and they were slightly big on her, she took them still. She felt slightly guilty at invading Natasha’s privacy since Natasha had never invaded hers, but the memory of the snickering girls convinced her that it was for a good cause. She also decided to borrow some eyeliner.

Mr. Wright looked slightly surprised at her appearance, but he didn’t say anything other than a pleasant “Good morning miss Maximoff.”

It was amazing how a change in her appearance had so much impact on her high school experience, the same boys that had called her a communist suddenly hurried to open the door for her, some of the girls that had previously laughed at her clothes now complimented her style and people that had ignored her tried to get to know her better. Lunchtime was great, girls called her to their tables and she received many invitations, she was particularly ecstatic when Jessica called her over to hers, offering her a spot in her ultra-exclusive “popular group.”

“Wendy, right?” 

“It’s Wanda actually..”

“Right, so where are you from?”

“I..um...I’m from Sokovia.”

“Soko what?”

“Sokovia, it’s in eastern Europe, near Slovakia and the Czech Republic.”

“Huh?” most of the girls looked at her weirdly, and Wanda blushed.

“Europe eh? What’s it like there?”

“Have you been to Paris?”

“Britany said you’re like super-rich, that’s why you have a limousine”

“Have you been to Italy?”

“What are your parents like?”

“Have you met the Pope?”

“Do you have any siblings?”

The questions came one after another, too quickly for Wanda to process, and in her panic, she answered what came first to her mind.

“I’m adopted”

“Really?”

“I-my real parents died when I was young and an American couple adopted me,” Wanda listened to the awws and, although she could have stopped there, she decided to keep going. “They’re both really cool, they’re like small celebrities.”

“Oooh, what do they do?”

“Do you have any photos?”

“What’s their Instagram?”

The questions kept coming and Wanda’s word vomit did not stop despite her wanting to and by the end of lunch she was a Sokovian girl adopted by a good looking rich couple, her mom was a former model who worked closely with THE Tony Stark and her dad was a veteran descendant from decorated war heroes who personally knew THE Captain American. Wanda did not have a phone yet because they had just moved from their Paris home and hadn’t had time to get her one. She also went on international vacations every summer with her parents. She knew that the more she lied the more difficult it would be to keep up the lies, but she truly couldn’t stop. 

Her lie continued to grow and by the end of the week she was the most popular 9th grader at school, and even though she had received a weird inquiring look from Peter when they saw each other in the hallway she kept going. It had become a habit, she would wait for Natasha to leave, take some clothes from her closet and entertain her newfound admirers. She had been nervous when people started to search up her parents and was incredibly relieved to find that Jarvis had created fake accounts and articles, some of them had been there due to Natasha’s cover as “Natalie Rushman” and others he (it???) had created after Wanda confided in him about the lies. He even created some photos with the three of them and she asked him to print one where Natasha had her arm around her and Steve had his arm around Nat, they looked so happy it hurt her heart to remember it wasn’t true, she put it under her pillow and looked at it at night when the nightmares made it impossible to sleep.

Despite being proud of herself for elevating her high school status so quickly, she did not plan to ever let Natasha or Steve know about their fake family, but things don’t always turn out the way one would expect. In retrospect, her mistake was so stupid and so easily avoidable if she had just looked carefully at the shirt she selected. The shirt in question was black and fashionably faded, it had “Leg rests” in the middle and two arrows pointing to where the shoulders were, it was bigger than any other shirt in the closet but it was also really comfortable and she decided to wear it despite the weird design since oversized shirts were in style at school. She didn’t make it past her first period before she was sent to the office for “inappropriate clothing,” and her worst fears came alive, Natasha was called to the school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Stay Safe :)


	5. NATASHA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of International Fanworks Day here's a little chapter :) my longer chapters will be uploaded on the weekends, thanks for all the kudos, comments and support!  
> Stay Safe <3

Natasha’s clothes had been going missing for a few days now, it started inconspicuously, with only an old shirt or jacket going missing, she didn’t think anything of it, she figured she had forgotten it at the compound or maybe in the laundry room. Then more items disappeared from her closet, she had suspected Clint was playing a prank on her, but he had been gone for most of the week on an assignment, she then turned her attention to Wanda, but the child had never gone anywhere close to her room, and she had insisted on using the clothes Jarvis had ordered for her. She decided not to make a big deal out of it, she had plenty of clothes still and a couple of shirts and jackets wouldn’t make a dent in her wardrobe, she did miss her Dr. Martens though.

She and Steve had been training with the newest members of the Avengers, Sam and Rhodey, when her phone rang. She quickly answered when she noticed it was the school, concerned that something had happened to Wanda. Had she gotten sick? Was she having a panic attack? Was she hurt? Did someone hurt her? She would have never thought she would be called to pick her up for “dressing inappropriately.” How could a thirteen-year-old child dress inappropriately anyway? She swore if it was something ridiculous like her shoulders or ankles showing she would give the principal hell.

She let Steve know she would be leaving, showered, changed into her “strong independent woman” outfit, and quickly drove to the school. She made sure her heels clicked loudly as she walked to the principal’s office, smirking as students and teachers alike moved aside to let her through, only to stop in her tracks as she took Wanda’s appearance in. Only her lifetime of training prevented her from both, bursting out laughing and blushing. She was wearing THE shirt. It had been Tony’s gag gift to Clint, but Laura would hang him if he wore it within 10 miles from their home, so he gave it to her, it was a really comfortable shirt so she kept it to be used as a lounge shirt or pajamas, she had forgotten completely about it.

“Mrs. Rushman?” The principal called her,  _ wait...Mrs??? _

“Mrs. Rushman,” he repeated as they sat down in his office, “What your daughter wore to school today is a serious dress code offense,”  _ daughter??? _

“Right, I..I really don’t know how this happened,” Natasha said honestly, “But I can promise this will be the first and last time she comes dressed like this.”

“Mrs. Rushman we take these offenses very seriously, the fact that you didn’t know Wanda owned the shirt and was wearing it this morning makes me feel very concerned about Wanda’s wellbeing.”

“Stop right there, are you insinuating that I neglect my daughter?!” Natasha questioned, a glint of anger in her eyes.

“N..no” He tried to backtrack, “but her teachers have noticed that she is very umm withdrawn around other kids, she is too obedient and she seems very distressed in general.”

“Too obedient?! Isn’t that something that’s usually celebrated? And the shirt is mine she just grabbed it from my closet, she is only 13 she probably just liked the color.”

“Mrs. Rushman I'm not here as your enemy, I have met many parents throughout my time as a teacher and principal and some parents are so busy with work and their lives they forget that their teens, although older and more capable of caring for themselves, still need as much reassurance and affection as younger kids do, maybe even more,” when Natasha didn’t raise her voice he continued, “I know that you and your husband’s job at Stark Industries must be really time-consuming, but I would like for you to consider dedicating more time to Wanda, you know just some bonding time, watch a movie, bake something, whatever it is, just the two of you. I’ll excuse Wanda from school tomorrow, take it as a mental health day and do something nice with her. Wanda’s a good kid, I would hate for her to go down the wrong path trying to get your attention.”

Natasha contemplated his words for a minute, and she knew he was right, she thanked him and left the office, determined to fix her mistake.

Upon arriving at the tower, she instructed Wanda to change her clothes and meet her in their living room in an hour and went off to find one of the wisest women she knew: the one and only Pepper Potts.


	6. PEPPER

After the whole Natalie Rushman thing, Pepper had become friends with Natasha Romanoff. She had seen the superspy fight against aliens and face-off with Congress without even batting an eye, so she immediately started worrying when Natasha walked into her office looking nervous.

“Nat!” she enthusiastically greeted her, “you’re rarely on this part of the tower, what brings you here?”

“Wanda got in trouble at school today,” Natasha grumbled as she sat down in the comfy white chair in front of Pepper’s desk.

“Aw, what happened?” Pepper inquired, as far as she knew Natasha’s charge was a nearly angelic child.

“Remember the shirt Tony gave Clint? The one with the innuendo?”

Pepper slowly nodded, not sure what it had to do with Wanda, “Yeah, the one you kept?”

“That’s the one, well...for the past week or so Wanda’s been taking clothes from my closet…”

“Oh no, did she take…?”

“She did,” Natasha confirmed, “I just don’t understand why she felt the need to steal my clothes, I could have bought her more if she needed them, hell I could have gotten her an entire new wardrobe if that’s what she wanted... and you know what that principal said?” Natasha didn’t wait for an answer before continuing, “he said I was being neglectful, well he didn’t  ** say ** it, but he insinuated it, and all because of what? Because I didn’t check her outfit before she left for school? That’s just bullshit, a lot of teenagers dress without adult supervision...Ugh I just feel so incompetent right now”

“Nat,” Pepper started, trying to calm her friend down, “You have to cut yourself some slack here, not everyone has to suddenly raise a teenager. I mean, some people plan to have kids, and even then they still struggle, you know why? Because they are human, and the children are too, everything is so unpredictable and it’s not something you can simply train for.”

“Thanks, Pep.”

“That being said...you need to work on being a little more..uh affectionate.”

“Affectionate…?”

“You know, an encouraging word here and there, maybe even a hug.”

“I guess you’re right,” Natasha mumbled.

“Of course I am, you can even use this as an opportunity to get a little bit closer, just go out, shop for some clothes, and maybe some ice cream.”

“Well, she doesn’t have school tomorrow so that could work out.”

“Tomorrow’s Friday, why not take the entire weekend?”

Pepper helped Natasha plan a nice weekend-long outing, it was so good (In Pepper’s opinion) that Wanda would be ecstatic by the end of it. 

“I have to go, I told Wanda I would meet her in an hour, you still up for drinks next Friday?”

“Of course, I’m so looking forward to it.”

“Alright, see you then, thanks!”

Pepper watched fondly as her redhead friend left, thinking that maybe Wanda would finally heal the wounds in her heart.


	7. WANDA

Wanda sat quietly on the luxurious white sofa in Natasha’s living room, her knee bouncing with nerves and her stomach churning with anxiety. Would Natasha punish her? Hit her? If she did, she would deserve it; after all, Wanda had gone into her room without permission and taken her clothes. Wanda was ready to face whatever punishment Natasha had in mind, but what if she decided she didn’t want to be her guardian anymore? Who would take her in? Would she be sent away? Would Steve take her in? But why would he want to take in a thief? Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Natasha’s entrance, she didn’t look mad, but Natasha never really looked like she felt anything at all.

  
Natasha walked calmly and sat down beside her without a word, Wanda’s knee started bouncing quicker, and her palms started to sweat.

  
“I’m not here to punish you, Wanda,” Natasha finally said, trying to ease the girl’s anxiety, “I just want to talk.”

  
Wanda looked up timidly, quickly looking down when her eyes met Natasha’s. 

  
“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted different clothes?”

  
Wanda tried to come up with a reasonable answer before finally admitting, “I didn’t want to bother you.”

  
“Wanda listen if you ever need anything just let me know okay? I won’t get mad at you for needing or wanting something, as long as it’s within reason I’ll try my best to provide it for you.” Natasha’s voice sounded soothing and it made Wanda’s heart ache for more closeness, “and that also goes for whenever you need someone to talk to, I might not understand what you’re going through, but I’ll try to be as understanding as possible,” Natasha finished as she hesitantly put her arm around Wanda’s shoulder in an awkward attempt at a side hug.

  
It was like something snapped within Wanda and the dam holding her tears back crumbled. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Nat started tracing soothing circles on her shoulders.

  
“Please don’t make me go back, the people at school don’t like me and they think I’m weird,” Wanda pleaded between sobs, she didn’t care if she sounded as childish as she felt, “Please.”

  
She fell silent at one point, and once she had calmed down enough to see through her tears she realized that throughout her meltdown she had shifted from her position on the couch to Natasha’s lap. She tensed, mortified at her actions.


	8. NATASHA

Natasha was bewildered at Wanda’s sudden outburst, she awkwardly tried to calm her down, but the child seemed deeply distressed and she figured it would be better to just let her let everything out. Their position made it uncomfortable, so Natasha did what she had seen Laura do with the kids: she maneuvered Wanda into her lap where she could hold her more easily, she was thankful for Wanda’s small frame.

Hearing that the other kids were giving Wanda a hard time made her blood boil with ire and her heartbroken sobs made Natasha’s heart ache in a way it hadn’t in a long time. 

_ “NAT! NATASHA! Please come back!” cried the young child, desperately trying to get the red head’s attention, “SESTRA PLEASE!” _

_ “Shouldn’t you at least let her know you’re not coming back?” a rookie agent asked Natasha, his face filled with uncertainty and pity for the child. _

_ “That is not my job, I rescued her and I brought her here, my mission is done.” _

_ “But the girl...she’s been crying for hours, she said you told her you would be back if she needed you…she showed us the dollar you gave her” _

_ “Good, it’ll serve as a lesson: never believe in promises,” Natasha answered coldly, although her heart pounded painfully as she heard the child’s cries. She knew she was being cruel, but if it guaranteed the girl’s survival then so be it, she would thank her later. _

Natasha held Wanda tighter as the memory faded, she rubbed soothing circles on her back and waited for her to calm down enough to talk to her. After a while, she finally felt Wanda’s breathing even.

“Let’s make a deal, you stay in school and if you still don’t feel comfortable with it by the end of the school year I’ll let you go back to private classes,” she waited for Wanda to consider it and couldn’t help but smile softly as she uttered a soft “okay.” She could almost feel Wanda’s embarrassment as she stood up and moved to sit on the couch again, and tried to break the tension.

“Sooo, who’s my husband?”

Wanda cracked an embarrassed smile, “Steve,” she answered honestly.

“Steve? Why him?” Natasha asked, slightly flustered.

Wanda shrugged, “He was the obvious choice, he’s always here and you two seem close.”

Natasha held back a blush and instead asked Wanda about the cover she had created, “If this is going to be the cover you’ll be using from now on I might as well know about it,” they spent the rest of the night looking over the social media profiles Jarvis had created, making small adjustments here and there, Natasha briefly allowed herself to imagine a life like that before shaking the thought away.

* * *

Steve made breakfast for them before leaving for the compound, Natasha appreciated the gesture. She and Wanda ate in comfortable silence, before leaving for the Quinjet.

“Are you dropping me at school with the Quinjet?” Wanda asked confusedly.

“You’re not going to school today, we’re going on a trip,” Natasha answered nonchalantly.

“I..uh I didn’t pack anything,” Wanda said apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, let’s go.”

___

Malibu hadn’t been Natasha’s first choice, it hadn’t even been in her top 3 options, but Pepper had somehow managed to convince her that it would be a good idea, and by the look of Wanda’s face, it was.

She dropped the quinjet off at Stark’s mansion, borrowed his precious red convertible and the two of them took off to the best clothing stores near them. Wanda had seemed overwhelmed at first, but she soon found her style, and when she seemed unable to decide Natasha would comment things like “This color really complements your eyes.” or “I think this would look good on you.” 

By the end of the day, they had eaten ice cream and bought shoes, skirts, jeans, jackets, and at Natasha’s insistence, swimwear. Wanda figured she wanted it so she could use it at the tower’s pool, or even just the Malibu mansion’s, but Natasha proved her conclusions wrong the next day when she took her to the beach for the first time in her life.

___

Natasha watched as Wanda’s eyes filled with wonder at the sight. She laid out on her towel, watching Wanda chase the waves, and asked her to come back when she noticed her hair kept getting on her face. She motioned for her to sit down in front of her, her back facing Natasha, and she started to expertly style her hair into a French braid, similar to her own. 

She sat back and admired her work and allowed Wanda to go back to the waves, and as she watched her leave she thought about a boy who would also be overjoyed to visit the beach, especially if he got to stay in a Stark mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Natasha's hair is long because I like it more than her AoU hairstyle.


End file.
